Photodynamic therapy using 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-induced protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) may be applied to the treatment of neoplasms in a variety of organs. In order to enhance existing regimens of photodynamic therapy, we investigated the effects of adding differentiation therapy to photodynamic therapy in human prostate cancer cells in vitro. The objective of differentiation therapy per se is to reverse the lack of differentiation in cancer cells using pharmacological agents. The motivation for this study was to exploit the differentiation-dependent expression of some heme enzymes to enhance tumour cell toxicity of ALA-photodynamic therapy. A short course of differentiation therapy was applied to increase PpIX formation during subsequent ALA exposure. Using the synthetic androgen R1881, isomers of retinoic acid, and analogues of vitamin D for 3 to 4 days, exogenous ALA-dependent PpIX formation in LNCaP cells was increased, along with markers for growth arrest and for differentiation. As a consequence of higher PpIX levels, cytotoxic effects of visible light exposure were also enhanced. Short-term differentiation therapy increased not only the overall PpIX production but also reduced that fraction of cells that contained low PpIX levels as demonstrated by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. This study suggests that it will be feasible to develop protocols combining short-term differentiation therapy with photodynamic therapy for enhanced photosensitisation.

The worldwide rise in antibiotic resistance necessitates the development of novel antimicrobial strategies. In this study we report on the first use of a photochemical approach to destroy bacteria infecting a wound in an animal model. Following topical application, a targeted polycationic photosensitizer conjugate between poly‐l‐lysine and chlorine6 penetrated the Gram (−) outer bacterial membrane, and subsequent activation with 660 nm laser light rapidly killed Escherichia coli infecting excisional wounds in mice. To facilitate real‐time monitoring of infection, we used bacteria that expressed the lux operon from Photorhabdus luminescens; these cells emitted a bioluminescent signal that allowed the infection to be rapidly quantified, using a low‐light imaging system. There was a light‐dose dependent loss of luminescence in the wound treated with conjugate and light, not seen in untreated wounds. Treated wounds healed as well as control wounds, showing that the photodynamic treatment did not damage the host tissue. Our study points to the possible use of this methodology in the rapid control of wounds and other localized infections.

The worldwide rise in antibiotic resistance necessitates the development of novel antimicrobial strategies. In this study we report on the first use of a photochemical approach to destroy bacteria infecting a wound in an animal model. Following topical application, a targeted polycationic photosensitizer conjugate between poly-L-lysine and chlorin(e6) penetrated the gram (-) outer bacterial membrane, and subsequent activation with 660 nm laser light rapidly killed Escherichia coli infecting excisional wounds in mice. To facilitate real-time monitoring of infection, we used bacteria that expressed the lux operon from Photorhabdus luminescens; these cells emitted a bioluminescent signal that allowed the infection to be rapidly quantified, using a low-light imaging system. There was a light-dose dependent loss of luminescence in the wound treated with conjugate and light, not seen in untreated wounds. Treated wounds healed as well as control wounds, showing that the photodynamic treatment did not damage the host tissue. Our study points to the possible use of this methodology in the rapid control of wounds and other localized infections.

J774 is a cell line derived from Balb/c mice that in vitro behaves as macrophages (including scavenger-receptor expression) and has been widely used to study macrophage cell biology. In vivo it produces histiocytic lymphoma tumors that are invasive and metastatic. We report here on the response of subcutaneous J774 tumors to photodynamic therapy with scavenger-receptor targeted chlorin(e6). Bovine serum albumin was covalently conjugated with chlorin(e6), maleylated and purified by acetone precipitation and both this and free chlorin(e6) were injected IV into mice at 2mg/kg. When tumors were illuminated with 665nm laser-light after 24 hours there was a highly significant response (tumor volume and growth rate) for the conjugate, but this led to a relatively small survival increase due to the highly metastatic nature of the tumor. The free chlorin(e6) gave very little tumor response. When light was delivered 3 hours after injection the response from the conjugate disappeared due to insufficient time for the tumor cells to take up the photosensitizer by receptor-mediated endocytosis. Free chlorin(e6) at 3 hours however produced a total regression of the tumors due to a primarily vascular effect, but the mice died sooner than control animals. When J774 tumors were surgically removed at different times after implantation the mouse survival was proportional to the length of time they had had the tumor. We interpret this data to show that mice with J774 tumors slowly develop concomitant immunity and a PDT regimen that swiftly ablates the tumor will give worse survival results than a regimen with a slower tumor response.

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